The Baby

My baby turns 28 years old today.

Did you hear what I said? THE BABY is TWENTY-EIGHT!!

I am sorry, but I was not prepared for this. In my mind, he is still 10. He may have a wife, and three little girls, but he is still just a baby. Really-I’m sure of it!

We were always so busy as a family that I kept thinking that sometime I would find the time to make him feel special. You know, he never really had any time as an only child.

In fact, we have a video of our kids, each one having a chance to talk about their life. Then, I just shot some everyday stuff. The kids playing. The most noticeable part of the video is that our youngest is constantly jumping up and down, into the video, in front of the others, attempting to get the attention of the camera.

He’s the most social of our three kids. The one who would just sit and chat with adults at the early age of 3. He always had older friends, often was friends with the adults in his life.

He loves Frank Sinatra, Woody Guthrie, and Green Day. He disdains technology, preferring to speak to a real person rather than a machine. When he lived in a small town for college, he would hand deliver his bills rather than mail them. He would personally deposit his paycheck instead of using automatic deposit until it was required by his employer. He has a job that has him on his feet, moving around, dealing with the public and managing other employees. He could never work in a cubicle every day.

He is an actor at heart. Actually, a very good actor. Just recently I spoke to a friend I’d not seen in several years, and when he asked about my children, he remarked that he remembered my youngest son in a high school production of “Fiddler on the Roof”. He told me quite seriously that my son’s performance as Tevye was better than that of Topol. We had both seen Topol on tour many years ago. That role was in my son’s junior year of high school.

When he and his girlfriend unexpectedly found themselves expecting, he made a major life adjustment. They married, he has worked ever since, and doesn’t seem to regret the loss of an acting career.

We are very proud of him. He and his family are very special to us.

But I am sorry, I am not old enough to have a 28 year-old baby. I will never be able to make him feel like an only child now.

And, as Erma Bombeck used to say, I still haven’t lost all the baby fat.

 

 

 

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